Hey Cedar Rapids, What’s With The Smell?

For a city that is nicknamed 'The City of Five Smells' what awaited us on Thursday morning wasn't all that big of a surprise. Residents of Cedar Rapids as well as towns as far away as Palo, Iowa City, and Marion all got dealt a smell that can only be described as, well, we won't write it here. So what's the big stink?

Some people thought it might be something from outside the state. The wildfires in California are playing havoc with the air quality and we get THIS smell. No, there is no pinning this on someone else. It was actually a problem with the Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control Facility. The large system on Betram Road SE treats over 50 million gallons of wastewater each day. It also creates a byproduct called hydrogen sulfide. And yes, it stinks.

An atmospheric condition can be blamed for the rest. There was a malfunction at the plant, but a condition called inversion didn't help matters. That is when gets higher in the atmosphere and traps the colder air closer to ground level. That prevents any bad smells from exiting quickly. Some call it a funk bubble. Yuck.

So the next time you wake up and it's Crunch Berry day, say 'thank you'. The next day might not be quite as pleasant.